A Navy security boat on patrol and a landing craft vessel conducting training collided Monday evening in Sasebo Bay, injuring the two sailors aboard the patrol boat, Sasebo Naval Base officials said.
The security boat was on routine patrol between the entrance to India Basin and the Akasaki Depot, a small facility that is part of Commander Fleet Activities Sasebo, around 9 p.m. when the collision occurred, said base spokesman Charles Howard.
The boat collided with a landing craft vessel carrying 16 sailors for evening navigation training.
None of the sailors aboard the landing vessel was hurt. The injured sailors from the patrol boat were treated and released from the base clinic and have since returned to work, Howard said. The cause of the crash is under investigation, he said.
Patrol boats — 28-foot fiberglass vessels with twin outboard engines — operate throughout Sasebo Bay and around the half dozen facilities under the control of CFAS.
Landing vessels, more officially called landing craft motorized, are about 70 feet long and weigh 40 tons, Howard said. They are used to move barges.
The landing vessel involved in the collision was on a routine training exercise and was transporting only people at the time, Howard said. It was not damaged, he said.
The patrol boat was damaged and was towed back to the base for repairs, he said.
